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| Well, you've been playing guitar for quite some time now and you've almost mastered just about every technique a beginner should know...but wait..what's this? A typical squeal that comes from Zakk, Dimebag/Moody??
It's called a harmonic dummy! There are three types of harmonic, they are Natural, Pinchd and Tapped. A Natural harmonic is acheived by lightly touching a string and picking it with the picking hand and immediately releasing the string with your fretting hand. A natural harmonic gives you the clearest sounding harmonic, such as the 12th fret. Other common natural harmonic places are the 7th and 5th fret (see below for the list of natural harmonics). Each will produce even higher sounds, much higher than can be produced on the guitar without using harmonics. However, each will also be quieter, so the higher harmonics may be nearly inaudible without overdrive. Natural Harmonics list - 12th fret: octave above open string - 7th or 19th fret: Octave plus a perfect fifth above open string - 5th or 24th fret: Two octaves above open string - 4th, 9th, or 16th fret: two octaves plus four semitones above open string N.H. N.H. N.H. N.H. N.H. |--------------------------------------| |---12------7------5------4------3--| |--------------------------------------| |--------------------------------------| |--------------------------------------| |--------------------------------------| Now, Pinch Harmonics are a different story...they are the hardest type of harmonic to execute, well most people find this to be the case. It was popularised by Billy Gibbons and Zakk Wylde. To execute this properly, you must first hold your pick/plectrum in a way so that the tip barely peeks out. By fretting a note and simultaneously striking it with your thumb or any other finger, you'll find that a high pitched squeal is sounded. Pinch harmonics can easily be combined with other techniques, such as bending. Be patient, pinch harmonics require practice, a lot of it, so don't worry if it takes you a hundred years to accomplish...muhahaha.... Pinch Harmonics are better acheived by using a sweet spot. This is a spot somewhere along the lines on where you pick (around the pickups). Try pinching a note around different areas, you may notice some spots allow you to make a higher squeal than other spots. [B/]The pickups you are using are also known to make pinch harmonics effortless, this is especially in the case of EMG's - now you know why Zakk can do them to a much louder. The truth is, you can do them will all guitar (even acoustics). You can also execute pinch harmonics without using a plectrum, but with your fingers if you're finger picking. Just apply the same principle, replacing a plectrum with your nail. P.H. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -| ||--------------------------------------------------------------1-2-3-4-| ||-------------------------------------------1-2-3-4--------------------| ||---------------------------1-2-3-4-----------------1-2-3-4----------| ||---------1-2-3-4-------------------1-2-3-4--------------------------| ||-------------------1-2-3-4--------------------------------------------| ||-1-2-3-4--------------------------------------------------------------| Tapped Harmonics can be tricky to some. This technique was popularised by Eddie Van Halen..(duh! Who else?). The note is fretted as usual, but instead of striking the string, the string is tapped at one of the frets. You are not required to hold the string down with the tapping hand; just bounce the finger lightly on and off the fret. This technique can be extended by fretting a note, then tapping relative to the fretted note. For instance, hold the third fret, and tap the fifteenth fret, for the twelfth fret harmonic, because 12+3=15. T T T T |--------------------------0-(12)----------------------------------------------------------| |-------------------1-(13)-----------------------------------------------------------------| |-----------2-(14)-------------------------------------------------------------------------| |---3-(15)---------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |